Pharaonic Magic

When Egypt met Israel in Round 10 of the Open series the men from Cairo were in tremendous form, as witness this deal.

Board 19. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª A J 7 5 3 © 7 2 ¨ A K Q 4 § J 5
ª Q 9 8 6 2 © 8 3 ¨ 9 2 § K 10 9 6		ª K 4 © K Q 10 9 5 ¨ 10 8 5 3 § 7 4
	ª 10 © A J 6 4 ¨ J 7 6 § A Q 8 3 2

West	North	East	South
El Ahmady	Kalish	Sadek	Podgur
			2§
Pass	2¨*	Pass	2©
Pass	3NT	All Pass

Expecting the jack of hearts to be in the dummy, Tarek Sadek found the brilliant opening lead of the nine of hearts. Naturally declarer played low, as West signalled encouragement with the three. The ten of hearts came next, and when declarer again played low East was able to continue with the king of hearts, ensuring that the defenders would come to five tricks.

That was just one of the boards that contributed to Egypt’s 94-13 IMP win.

The positional factor

by Maureen Dennison

This deal from round 9 of the Women’s series in the Olympiad looks relatively innocuous, but looks can be deceiving.

Board 8. Dealer West. None Vul.
	ª K J © 10 7 4 ¨ 10 8 5 2 § Q 4 3 2
ª A 10 7 4 3 © K 5 ¨ A K 7 4 3 § A		ª Q 8 5 © 9 8 6 3 2 ¨ 6 § J 7 6 5
	ª 9 6 2 © A Q J ¨ Q J 9 § K 10 9 8

At most tables, East/West played 4ª making, though a fair sprinkling played in 2ª making four. Jill Casey, Welsh Camrose player, played in 1ª.

What’s remarkable about that, of course, is that Jill was sitting North!

West opened a strong club, and Jill’s 1ª showed two suits of the same rank. East’s pass indicated fewer than 5 points. After South passed, West decided she had nowhere to go and she, too, passed. The contract drifted four off for minus 200.

Jill’s teammates, by the way, were up to bidding the spade game, so the team earned a 6-IMP swing.